Children's Investment Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
043105358
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6177275944
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Voluntarism, and Grantmaking Foundations N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,334,242
Expenses
$2,224,085
Assets
$6,857,477
Liabilities
$730,045

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AMY O'LEARY (PRESIDENT)
  • WAYNE YSAGUIRRE (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • AMY O'LEARY (PRESIDENT)
  • WAYNE YSAGUIRRE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KARLEY AUSIELLO (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The children's investment fund's (cif) primary purpose is to improve the quality of and expand access to early learning and school-age child care programs for low and moderate-income families. In order to broaden the impact of its work cif also seeks to support affordable housing for low-income families through place-based two-generation and other strategies that result in safer, healthier and more stable environments in which to raise young children.

What it reported doing in 2024

Early education and out of school time (eeost) capital fund and early education and care provider capital grant program (eecpcg): the eeost program was first authorized by the Massachusetts legislature as part of the 2013 community development capital bond bill. In may 2018, eeost was reauthorized by the legislature as part of the housing capital bond bill. Each of those bond bills authorized the issuance of up to $45 million in general obligation bonds, subject to annual allocations determined by the executive office for administration and finance. In august 2024, the legislature reauthorized the program for up to $50 million, subject to annual allocations determined by the executive office of administration and finance. The purpose of eeost is to provide capital grants to licensed center-based nonprofit early education and out-of-school time programs to fund facility acquisition, design, construction and/or renovation. Eecpcg is designated for for-profit centers to develop and/or rehabilitate eligible facilities in which a certain number of slots are reserved to serve low-income families. Cif, under contract with cedac, underwrites, closes and disburses the grant funds awarded by the department of early education and care (eec). As of june 30, 2025, $62.4 million has been awarded to child care providers since 2013 under the eeost and eecpcg programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 44% for direct work, and 56% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 91.3%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $193.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.5%; rating input score 98; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -66.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.08; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.